This is a cheesy souvenir gift in its original box from 1981. It’s a Genuine California Earthquake in a Can. Really it’s just a tin can with a ball inside that you shake and then set down…and it continues to shake on its own. The most amusing part of this silly gag is that the can is printed with the warning “Caution: Do Not Swallow Can.”
“Blindfolded, kiss the homeliest person in the room.” Those were the instructions on one of the game pieces that we pulled from a vintage circa 1930’s party game called Smacks: A Kissing Party Game. It’s probably hard, or at least undesirable, to imagine your grandparent or great-grandparents having a kissing-orgy as a means of entertainment.
When we found the game, it had already been partially played with a few of the little rolled up pieces of paper removed. With instructions to seek out the ugliest person in the room to kiss, it seems like the game may have ended in an argument…rather than in an X-rated Depression era orgy of affectionate depravity.
Still lots of good plays left.
Lone Ranger Atomic Bomb Ring
In 1947 Kix cereal offered a premium that no kid could refuse. For 15 cents and a single box top, you could get a Lone Ranger Atomic Bomb Ring with a cute little atomic bomb on it. As a little kid, you weren’t just wearing an atomic bomb on your finger either, it was filled with polonium! If you removed the tail portion of the bomb you could look through a screen (when the ring was new) and watch tiny flashes of light as the polonium decayed.
As cool as the ring must have been for children in the post war era, it seems a bit odd today, at least to me. The ring was issued just two years after the US government vaporized 200,000 Japanese citizens with a couple atomic bombs. There’s evidence that says that by doing so the US army actually saved lives and that without doing so, collateral losses would have exceeded the number killed by the bomb….so anyway, I’m not going to debate the choice to use the bomb.
What I am going to do though, is question the choices of toy manufacturers to capitalize on hundreds of thousands of deaths. Stop for a moment and image in the uproar that a similar ring depicting airplanes flying into buildings worn by middle eastern children would have made two years after September 11th, 2001. Today there’s a constant debate about violent video games and whether they desensitize children to violence, yet in the forties it seemed OK to glorify something that killed hundreds of thousands of people.
Here are a couple more atomic bomb influenced toys of the 1940’s…
Nuke Ride-On Toy Bomb
A.C. Gilbert Atomic Bomb Dexterity Game
In the antique business, you are bound to find quite a few diaries while cleaning out drawer or attics or closets. Most diaries are simple books with trivial notes from their former owners, some are detailed transcripts of the minutia of everyday life - like in the case of the Bain diaries. And on the rare occasion you find one that is worth reading for more than just its content or historical value. That is the case of the little diary pictured with the airplane flying through the clouds on the cover.
This diary was found some time ago and it was originally a Christmas gift to a 12 year old girl in 1944. There are a number of things about this diary that are striking. First, the author, a young rural Pennsylvanian girl is beyond blunt and direct with her posts, possibly due to lack of space - with entries like “Got a new dog today, Boo, cute.” Also striking is the fact that there are entries spanning five decades, yet still much of the diary has been left blank, with large gaps between entries. The final striking thing is the choice of material for the girl’s entries and how through the course of her life, the diary becomes almost a lockbox to keep sorrow as if a two line entry was her way of venting. The diary gets progressively more sad as it goes on, as you will see as we add entries over the coming weeks.
I’ve decided to type out the diary as it appears in order of the pages, which with five years on each page, skipped pages and random years inserted on their appropriate days, it is a bit, well…you’ll see. Spelling and grammar will not be edited. Updates will be added to the bottom.
Five Year Diary, By Edith T.
January 1, 1945: Today is New Years, we had sour crout for supper, tomorra school starts, nuts. [Author begins writing January 2nd's post in pen on the Jan. 1 page, has to cross out entry]
January 2, 1945: To day school starts we got a new boy in are room. Ed came home for Christmas Grace came home to.
January 3, 1945: “Boy” was it cold out we ate up town to day. It was very good. I washed out my blouse. I am going to ware my new dress tomorro, the blue one.
January 4, 1945: I have a bad head ache. Jimmy is very mean tonight. I am makeing tea and going to eat crackers. Mother and dad is out at moms. Carol Ann got her own bed.
January 5, 1945: To day is Friday. I got my hair washed tonight and rolled up for tomorra. We go down to Margarets for dinner.
January 6, 1945: Me and Ed went down to Margets for dinner we had a very nice dinner margets gave me a peral nectles.
January 7, 1945: We stayed out at moms house for supper. Jimmy went to the show. It is almost 11:30. I don’t know how I am going to get up tomorra. Shirley and the girls is going to eat in school tomorra, but I am not.
January 8, 1945: To day is Monday. Tomorra is a baskettball game.
January 9, 1945: To day was a big day for me we went to the show. Got a bath and rolled my hair up. We got a milk shake.
January 13, 1945: I am going to Shirleys birthday party at 7:30. She will be twealve years old. I look very nice. I started to — today…
January 14, 1945: I have and awful cold. I can hardly talk. Mom and dad went out and Jimmy went to the basketball game. I am by myself. I took the twins to the show today.
January 18, 1945: I am listening to the radio now mom is out at moms house. I wrote a letter to Joan. I don’t have much more to say.
January 24, 1945: I got the mumps today.
January 28, 1945: I have the mumps.
January 29, 1945: I have the mups.
January 30, 1945: I still have the mumps, Helen M. Brought down a cake. I have not gone to school for 2 days.
January 31, 1945: Martha & Ed got married at 5:00. I still have the mumps. I Made candy. Ed + Martha are hear.
February 1, 1945: Grace is down here. I fell better tonight.
February 1, 1961: Found perfume bottle in his car tonight. He likes that old slut.
February 2, 1945: I got a card from Jr. High. I washed my sweater. I hope I can wash my hair tomorra it is dirty.
…to be continued…
This post and its contents is copyright 2009 Black Market Antiques.
I had two projects for this weekend, right a blog article and do the recycling. Got the recycling done Saturday and put off the blog article for lack of a topic. But now it’s Monday morning and I need to get the blog thing done before the boss has a fit.
Black Market Antiques strives to do our small part to help the environment by being as “Green” as possible. This weekend, I drew the short straw and, as mentioned, got the task of doing the recycling for the warehouse. Part of BMA’s green commitment involves recycling as much of our waste as possible. This includes everything from cardboard scraps and junk mail to tin and other metals. In addition to recycling, Black Market Antiques also tries to reuse items that do not fit in our online inventory of antiques and collectibles.
I started the recycling by separating all the paper, cardboard and metal scrap. This included about 400 pounds of pamphlets from doctors’ offices in several large tubs that were found in a recent estate where we had to clear out everything. If I needed to know about the latest and greatest kidney medications from 1982 or procedures for repairing a prolapsed rectum, I’m sure I could have found that info in the thousands of brochures. Once separated I loaded the truck and was off to the local recycling drop off center where I put the different types of materials into their appropriate roll-off containers.
After the recycling was accomplished it was back to the warehouse to load up a load of mostly household items for delivery to the local donation thrift store. Some local coffee mug collector will probably come close to peeing themselves with delight when the store puts out the couple hundred contemporary mugs onto the shelves for sale. Lots of newer glassware and dishes went to the thrift store…along with what seemed like literally tons of newer children’s books.
In addition to recycling and donating goods, Black Market Antiques is proud of our effort to try to reuse as much packaging materials as possible from other local businesses. Doing not only keeps this filler out of the landfills, at least for a time, but also helps to keep shipping costs down.
If you have an organization that is in need of second-hand items in the Brookville, Pennsylvania area, contact us to see if we have what you are looking for. In the process of acquiring antique and collectible items, Black Market Antiques routinely ends up with a lot of household type goods and newer retail goods that just don’t fit our market.
Sometimes you come across an old item that makes you scratch your head and ask, “what the heck where they thinking?” Today in my batch of pictures of ready to add inventory from the warehouse I found this odd Catholic medal.
Invoke a Cold War Slogan, Put Mary on a Mushroom Cloud, but Remember to Stamp Peace on the Earth.
For those of you who aren’t 80 years old, the “Atoms for Peace” slogan comes from a speech given by Dwight Eisenhower. The speech basically was meant to scare the bejesus out of foreign countries while trying to soothe the concerns of ordinary citizens who feared being vaporized in a nuclear fire. The Atoms for Peace program lead to the proliferation of nuclear power to developing nations without their own technology…countries like Pakistan and of course, Iran. [sigh] …you see where this is going…
The first nuclear reactors were built by the American company American Machine and Foundry, better known as AMF…which also produced those cute little tricycles shaped like rockets in the 1950’s. So be sure to thank your grandparents for financing today’s nuclear fears coming out of Tehran…but back to the medal.
The oddity of the medal got even more bizarre when I saw the picture of the back of it, which features an embossed image of the Archangel Michael trampling Satan.
St. Michael getting ready to slay Satan to protect Israel from the nuclear threat created by Atoms for Peace.
I suppose you can’t entirely lay the blame on the Eisenhower administration for today’s current nuclear tensions in the middle east, but it is ironic, just like this medal. It’s as if the maker of this medal was a bit torn about the Atoms for Peace program and had a bit of inner conflict about the outcome of Atoms for Peace. One side featuring an image of atomic war with a call for peace and the other showing Michael protecting Israel from their greatest modern threat?
Anyway, it’s a great odd little medal. Oh, and if you’re looking for a good idea for a full-back tattoo, the image of Mary floating on a mushroom cloud sure would make a statement.
File this under ‘Things Gramma would rather you not run with’ and ‘Devices that should be used in a murder scene in a B horror movie.”
Up to the 1930’s, meat carving sets were basically the same. You had a reasonable sized carving knife and a two-pronged fork that had sharp tines. After the 30’s you start seeing a trend towards larger-than-necessary knives and the forks’ tines get a bit longer. As you go forward in time, innovation and ingenuity (if you can stretch their definitions) lead to unnecessary developments, ie. giant gripping claws, super long tines, giant faux stag Bakelite handles, etc.
When the Gerity Carve-ette was produced, all further innovation was rendered useless. No longer would housewives have to worry about their roast slipping during carving, nor I suppose, would they have to worry about being bothered by their husbands while cutting the roast. The Carve-ette’s handle is ergonomic even by today’s standards; just holding it gives you a feeling of…well, let’s just say you won’t feel afraid of being attacked while holding it.
Steady a ham for carving or fend off an attacker with the Carve-ette.
New to the Black Market Store